Navistar names John Pope to board

Published 8:57 PM ET Sun, 11 Nov 2012
The Associated Press

LISLE, Ill. -- Heavy truck and engine company Navistar International Corp. said Wednesday that it named John Pope to its board.

Pope replaces David Harrison, who chose to retire after serving five years on the Lisle, Ill.-based company's board. Pope's appointment and Harrison's retirement are effective immediately, keeping the total number of Navistar board members at 10, Navistar said.

Pope will stand for election at the company's 2013 annual shareholder meeting. His appointment is in addition to the appointments of Vincent Intrieri of Icahn Capital LP and Mark Rachesky who runs MHR Fund Management LLC. They were named to the board earlier this month to head off a possible proxy fight involving their investment firms.

Navistar still plans to appoint a third director that will be chosen by Icahn and MHR, both of which hold nearly 15 percent stakes in the company. As part of the deal, Icahn and Rachesky have agreed that they won't force a proxy fight at the company's 2013 annual shareholders meeting, and they will support the board's nominees.

Pope currently serves as chairman of PFI Group LLC, a financial management firm mainly focused on private equity opportunities. He also has served as a director at Waste Management Inc. since 1997 and was its non-executive chairman from 2004 to 2011.

Pope also has worked as an executive for United Airlines and its parent UAL Corp., and with American Airlines and its parent, AMR Corp.